[Tweeters] Townsend's Warbler nectar feeding from mahonia?

[Dan McDougall-Treacy]

I've seen Townsend's Warbler feeding at mahonia at Washington Park
Arboretum in Seattle, and Yellow-rumped Warbler feeding at our hummingbird
feeder.
Dan

Dan McDougall-Treacy
Seattle, WA
danmcdt at gmail dot com
206.402.9426


On Mon, Feb 1, 2021 at 10:33 PM <EdSwan2 at comcast.net> wrote:


> Our neighbors have a large old mahonia bush with many yellow blossoms that

> blooms for much of the winter.  Anna’s Hummingbirds fight to protect this

> territory a lot and I was surprised to see a Townsend’s Warbler able to

> forage in the bush without being attacked several times recently. This

> morning, I noticed that the female Townsend’s appeared to be inserting its

> beak into the flowers like it was accessing nectar as opposed to gleaning

> for insects.

>

>

>

> Is that a known foraging behavior for Townsend’s?  I have seen them drink

> from a hummingbird feeder before but I have not seen them try nectar

> feeding from plants.  Cornell’s Birds of the World doesn’t really have that

> much information on their diet.  It does mention that they drink honeydew

> from scale insects in Central America, which I thought was interesting.

>

>

>

> It was a good warbler day with Townsend’s, Orange-crowned and

> Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) Warblers all getting suet from the suet feeder or

> hopping on the ground to get suet bits dislodged by a flicker.

>

>

>

> Ed in West Seattle

>

>

>

> Ed Swan

>

> Nature writer and guide

>

> www.theswancompany.com

>

> edswan2 at comcast.net

>

> 206.949.3545

>

>

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